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Baltimore mayor: Redefining 'Rust Belt' could attract more residents

Mayor hopes to attract 10K families by 2020

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Updated: 8:07 AM EDT Jun 19, 2013

Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake exchanged ideas with leaders from Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit about how to redefine the term Rust Belt and tap into new sources of industry in an effort to attract more residents to the city.

Baltimore mayor: Redefining 'Rust Belt' could attract more residents

Mayor hopes to attract 10K families by 2020

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Updated: 8:07 AM EDT Jun 19, 2013

BALTIMORE —

Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake exchanged ideas with leaders from Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit about how to redefine the term Rust Belt and tap into new sources of industry in an effort to attract more residents to the city.

The mayor presented a list of factors that she believes will accomplish her goal of attracting 10,000 new families to Baltimore by 2020, but not everyone is sold.

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One economist explained that it often takes at least a generation to accomplish the type of turnaround the mayor is attempting.

The mayor acknowledged the obstacles in the way of attracting new families to Baltimore, "vacant buildings, a smaller tax base, crumbling school buildings, just to name a few."

The fact that Baltimore is sometimes referred to as part of the Rust Belt doesn't help. Towson University economist Daraius Irani explained the term.

"As the steel industry has fallen off, as we've seen with Bethlehem Steel closing, the Rust Belt has sort of taken on a negative connotation. It's basically an area down on its luck," Irani said.

The mayor met with other leaders Tuesday tasked with turning around Rust Belt cities like Cleveland and Detroit. She pointed to 2012 census data that showed Baltimore's biggest growth spurt in more than half a century: 1,100 new residents, many of whom, she said, are immigrants.

Irani said immigrant labor helps fuel the hotel, restaurant and tourism industries -- jobs that are often facilitated by comprehensive public transportation systems, such as the proposed Red Line.

"The Red Line is a 14-mile east-to-west light rail book-ended by two major employment centers. All major roads of public transportation will finally be connected by the Red Line. It also has capacity to spark investment in west Baltimore," Rawlings-Blake said.

In includes investments such as the potential $20 million overhaul of Lexington Market and the recent passage of $1 billion plan to rebuild or renovate sub-par public schools. But Irani questions whether it's realistic to expect that these initiatives will significantly broaden Baltimore's tax base by 2020 and shake the Rust Belt legacy.

"It would take a generation and I would say that every one of these long journeys beings with a first step and the first step starts with a down payment on these new schools," Irani said.

Irani pointed out that projects like renovating Lexington Market will only succeed if you can convince city residents and tourists that it's safe enough to go there, which calls for a comprehensive police and redevelopment strategy that would extend into surrounding neighborhoods.